Bill Liesse: Thankful for an athlete that thinks of others

Je'Rod Cherry, former New England defensive back, owns the same three Super Bowl rings as Tom Brady, Mike Vrabel and all the other members of the Patriots' near-dynasty.

After Thanksgiving Day, Cherry will own two.

Moved to tears by a slide show he saw on world poverty while attending an annual Grace Brethren youth conference, Cherry was compelled to help.

First he thought he'd give money. Then a teenage girl asked if he'd donate a Super Bowl ring. Cherry got to thinking. He not only put one up for auction, he put up the first one.

"No one expected us to win that one," he told ESPN Radio the other day when I happened to be out getting lunch. Rather than lunge at the buttons to escape Jim Rome, I was mesmerized by this most selfless man, this humble ex-pro.

It was the Patriots' upset win over the Rams in Super Bowl 36, the post-9/11 Super Bowl, after New England had started 1-3 and late-rounder Brady took over for franchise face Drew Bledsoe.

By far, Cherry said, this ring is the most precious to him. The biggest sacrifice of the three, in keeping with the theme of the conference that so moved him.

It retails for about $35,000. Fans can buy a chance to win it for $2, with a maximum of five chances. Cherry said Tuesday they had raised $140,000 and counting at www.netraffle.org.

Hope you're reading this early, though, because the raffle closes Thanksgiving Day at 8 a.m. Central.

Someone is going to get a Super Bowl ring with 142 diamonds for $10, maybe less.

Only two things can make this story better. One, obviously, is that Cherry's money make an appreciable dent in the starvation and sex slavery and the like he saw in Africa, Thailand, Cambodia.

The second thing would be if that lucky someone turned right around and gave him back the ring.

Titans -11 at LIONS: Gee, I wonder. TENNESSEE.

COWBOYS -12 1/2 vs. Seahawks: No better way to go 0-2 in the traditional Thanksgiving games than to take neither D. I'm just the guy to do it. SEATTLE.